


Love in the Age of Gods

by suddenlycomics



Category: SMITE (Video Game)
Genre: Brief mortal peril, F/F, Romantic Fluff, i'm not kidding about the fluff, literally fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 22:01:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7658359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suddenlycomics/pseuds/suddenlycomics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arachne and Serqet have been seeing each other for awhile but Arachne doesn't dare hope that it will last. Despite expecting the worst, Arachne isn't ready when she sees the end draw near. </p>
<p>Serqet sees the situation in completely different light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love in the Age of Gods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EgSauce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EgSauce/gifts).



“That was completely unnecessary. We’re fighting but we’re not completely uncivilized.” 

Arachne looked too the doorway leading to the arena where Serqet leaned against the doorframe with a pout on her lips. 

“I had wrapped him in webs and my spiders were poisoning him,” Arachne replied, wincing as her neck ached from moving. “Hercules grabbing me by hair to throw me seems reasonable for the actions of a desperate man.” 

“Still,” Serqet said, walking up to Arachne and placing her hand on the other woman’s cheek. “It was entirely unnecessary and rude. I’m glad we utterly destroyed his team.” 

Arachne laughed which caused Serqet to smirk. 

“It certainly made it worth it,” Arachne agreed, stepping back as she heard someone at the doorway. Neith came bouncing in and it wasn’t the first time that Arachne was confused by the elder god’s choice to appear as a young woman. 

“Serqet, you said you would be on my team! We’re going out in a few minutes!” Neith said, with all the energy of someone who was as old as she looked. 

“I know. I’ll be there in a moment, mother,” Serqet promised with a sigh. 

Jealousy bubbled up within Arachne. It was a familiar but constant companion that had lost most of its edge but it burned today. Unlike Neith or Serqet or most gods, she couldn’t change her form. When Athena cursed her, she had ensured that Arachne would always be a spider. Then there was the fact that her relationship with Serqet had to remain secret. If anyone knew like Athena or the Greek pantheon, Serqet could face their wrath or even pressure from her pantheon to- 

“Arachne,” Serqet said, taking her hand in hers. “I will see you later.” 

As Serqet let go to join Neith, Arachne felt her heart flutter while her stomach simultaneously sank. She didn’t understand why Serqet felt so free to display her affections openly. Arachne was so careful but Serqet would hold her hand or even hug her after a victory in the Arena. It hadn’t gone unnoticed. The rumors were flying although Athena had made a loud declaration that no one could dare love such a repulsive creature. 

Arachne had to beg Serqet not to confront her then and there. 

However, Arachne would file this away for a later discussion. With Serqet busy in the Arena with her Pantheon the rest of the day, her business was done here. 

Arachne returned to her “temple” or rather an elaborate cave system that she inhabited and tended to her fledgling spiders. What turned the cave into a temple were worshippers, more worshipers than she had ever before joining in on the Arena fights and the feud the gods now had. They had that left offerings outside the cave which kept her spiderlings quite spoiled. While Arachne had been dismissive of the human worshippers at first, the power they gave was undeniable. Sometimes, Arachne would weave things to leave out for her worshippers and enjoy the surge in power she got from their gratitude. 

It also reminded her of a life a long time ago. 

She was dangling upside down to work on her newest weavings when she felt the frantic motions of her spiderlings crawling towards her. 

_“Medusa!”_

_“Medusa!”_

_“Brought something!”_

The spiders chittered as Arachne lowered herself to the ground. Medusa wasn’t a cause for concern. It was Medusa who found her after Athena’s curse and together they were monsters made by the mercurial goddess’s whims. Alliances were important to survival now that gods were fighting amongst themselves and Medusa had always been her most trusted ally. 

However, bringing something was new. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure of you visit Medusa?” Arachne said, descending from the ceiling and landing near her visitor. “I had not expected you to come by today.” 

“I have a gift,” Medusa said, with more glee in her voice than Arachne had ever heard. It was distracting enough that Arachne almost missed the statue Medusa was coiling around. 

“A gift? That is quite an unexpected occurrence,” She replied earning a scoff from Medusa. 

“The situation has never called for it before,” Medusa said as she began uncoiling from the statue. The statue wasn’t fully uncoiled when Arachne recognized who the statue was and she suddenly felt like Medusa’s gaze was directed on her. 

“Serqet?!” Arachne shouted as she realized what Medusa had done. Serqet was frozen in stone, in mid-leap. She must have realized what Medusa was trying to do before the gorgon’s gaze fell upon her. Arachne growled as Medusa looked expectantly at her. “What did you do?” 

“What needed to be done. You are not thinking clearly and now you can,” Medusa replied, matter-of-factly. “Strike her down. Take her place in the people’s hearts as the goddess of poison! What need do you have of her when you can have her power!” 

“And you say I am not thinking clearly!” Arachne replied, attempting to step towards Serqet’s statue when Medusa moved swiftly back in front of it. 

“She’s a god just like Athena or the rest! She’s one of them and you can’t trust them!” Medusa snarled, rearing up causing a wave of panic among her spiders as they scattered. “She’ll toss you aside in the end! For power, an alliance, whatever the reason, it will happen!” 

“Enough,” Arachne said, stepping forward. “Your actions endanger us both! Do you really believe her pantheon would not destroy us if I even entertained your shortsighted plan?!” 

“You’re a fool! And worse a fool in love!” Medusa yelled, reaching for her mask. 

Arachne made a quick motion, summoning webs on Medusa location. The gorgon screamed as the webs covered her, slowing her movements as spiders descended on her. Arachne launched herself into her webs, crawling along the ceiling. Positioning herself over Medusa, she leapt back down, landing on top of her and pinning her to the ground. She reached down, holding Medusa’s mask down on her face. 

“You have made a grave mistake,” Arachne hissed, anger quickly giving way to something new as she felt Medusa trapped beneath her. “Your worry is misplaced but understood. Leave here freely.” 

With that, Arachne loosened her grip and Medusa shot out from beneath her. Despite her mask, Arachne had become adept at reading her body language to know that Medusa was torn apart inside. Medusa had her shoulders hunched forward, arms hugging herself as the familiar sigil appeared around her to teleport her to her temple. One last look at Aranchne carrying betrayal and hurt even beneath the mask and then she was gone. 

Arachne wasted no time scurrying over to Serqet’s statue. She was impossibly balanced on the tip of her toes on one foot, frozen in a leap. She sighed, reaching out to caress Serqet’s face only be met by cold stone. She knew Serqet would be fine. As a goddess, the petrification would only be temporary. With Medusa elsewhere, the process of returning to flesh and blood would take hold soon enough. However, it did little to ease the pain of seeing her like this because of her. 

Arachne cursed Medusa for being so foolish as to entertain the thought of this plan. While it is true that gods could usurp the power and function of others, it was a cruel process. Often involving the long capture and repeated acts of humiliation and violence against them in front of those who believed in them. Not enough to kill them because then they would simply be reborn elsewhere. No, you wanted to keep them on the edge of existence until they lost their power and faded from the minds of humans and you supplanted yourself in their hearts. 

Arachne wasn’t above such things. She knew there were gods she would gleefully do it to, but Serqet did not deserve that fate in her eyes. However, such acts of supplanting had become frowned upon to put it politely. With the numbers of gods dwindling, they had all closed ranks. If you tried such a thing now, it wouldn’t be long before an entire pantheon and their allies descended upon you. 

“Arachne?” 

She suddenly became aware of how she was touching warm flesh and not stone. Arachne pulled her hand away as though Serqet had burned her. The other goddess wasn’t completely free. The stone retreating slowly in uneven patches in various areas including her face. Serqet was looking at her warily and it hit Arachne how Medusa could have merely kept Serqet stunned before petrifying her. She could have told her all sorts of things while Serqet was unable to do anything but listen. It made Arachne recoil further and look at the floor. 

“Medusa brought you here but I defeated her,” Arachne said, figuring the truth can’t make Serqet hate and distrust her more. At least, she would know the truth. “She wanted me to try to take your power. I refused and defeated her. With her gone from this place, the petrification should dissipate. You will be free to go once it does. I…I bear you no ill will.” 

‘ _I love you. I’ll miss you. Please don’t leave me,’_ Arachne thinks desperately. She knew this would end but she had been unprepared for it to end today. 

“Arachne,” Serqet said making Arachne look up. One of Serqet’s arms was no longer stone and reaching out for her. “Arachne.” 

Arachne skittered forward, wrapping her arms around Serqet who held her desperately with her free arm and whispered her name like a prayer. 

“I have you,” Arachne whispered, rubbing Serqet’s back where the stone was turning back to skin. 

“I knew. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me,” Serqet said, breathless and Arachne felt her heart lurch at the trust she had been given. “I was frightened what could happen to you if others found out her plan. Or what she might do in desperation.” 

“How can you trust me so much?” Arachne asked, gripping Serqet tighter and burying her face in the crook of her neck. 

“You are hopelessly in love with me,” Serqet said and Arachne could hear her smirk in her voice. “Then again, I am just as hopeless for you.” 

Arachne felt another arm wrap around her as Serqet’s other arm was freed from stone. They stayed like that long after the stone had completely given way to flesh. Eventually, they moved from where they had been standing to a web where they spent the night simply holding each other. They fell asleep like that, content and safe. 

Only to wake up to something bursting through the entrance of her cave. 

Serqet sat up, stringing together curses in her mother tongue. It was fast but Arachne recognized the word “family.” Arachne immediately called off her spiderlings who had been rushing to the entrance ready for a fight. Serqet leapt from the web and Arachne followed although staying a bit behind. It was rather intimidating to see the Egyptian pantheon in her cave this morning. Serqet was not intimidated in the slightest, marching up to them and standing her ground in front of them. 

“Why are you here?” Serqet demanded and some of the gods seemed to realize what they had walked in on (or rather what they thought they had walked in on, neither of them had been in the mood). Ra, however, did not. 

“You missed your match! Medusa was seen skulking where you were last seen. When you did not return home, we had to assume the worst. We couldn’t find Medusa so we thought-” 

“I needed help last night! If it weren’t for Arachne’s actions, who knows what would have happened!” Serqet said and the sun god had the decency to look ashamed. “And how do you repay her? By taking out her front door!” 

“Ah, our apologies!” Khepri said, with a flutter of his wings as he rolled a boulder back towards the cave wall. “Geb, I would appreciate your help.” 

“Sorry,” Geb rumbled and the apology seemed to reverberate from the ground and cave walls itself. 

“But wait!” Bastest said with exaggerated confusion and an impressive grin. “If that was last night, why are you here this morning?” 

Arachne felt herself step back, wishing to jump into her webs. It shouldn’t hurt that Serqet was about to deny their relationship. It was the smart thing to do- 

“I am courting her!” Serqet said as though the words had been burning the tip of her tongue trying to burst free. “We are courting. I love her.” 

Anubis, Osiris, Isis, and Ra all seem a mix of surprised and uncomfortable for expecting something else. Bastet was grinning now as though she had just caught a canary as Sobek made a choked laughing sound. Khepri fluttered his wings again and did something that seemed a dance. There was a pleasant rumble from the walls around them that seemed to signify he approved. 

“Oh my goodness, do you know how hard it was to keep that a secret!” Neith says, grabbing Arachne’s arm (when had she gotten there) and bouncing excitedly. “I already weaved you something! I know a weaver giving a weaver something you could make yourself but I do it for everyone in the family!” 

“She does,” Anubis said tiredly and Neith made a hushing sound towards him. Neith held out her hands and, with a soft weaving a whirling of light, a purple bolt of fabric appeared. 

“Normally I’d already make it into something but I thought you might prefer this,” Neith said, holding it out to Arachne who took it after Serqet nodded at her. The fabric was warm like the rays of the sun, soft, and impossibly light. She felt something well up within her as she cradled the fabric to her chest. 

“Thank you,” Arachne whispered, feeling as though she might cry since she was turned into this monstrosity. 

Over the course of the day, the Egyptian pantheon filtered out. By the time, the sun had set, the last ones to leave were Geb and Khepri would had finished fixing her cave which left Serqet and Arachne alone. 

“I apologize for my family,” Serqet said, laying back on the web bedding Arachne had laid out for them. “They are a lot to deal with, especially all at once. We are a rather _dramatic_ bunch.” 

“They seem decent,” Arachne said, settling down next to Serqet who rolled over so she was facing her. 

“You mean for gods,” she said with a lopsided grin. 

“For gods, yes,” Arachne replied, “but also in general.” 

“That’s not even all of them. However, dear, if Set decides to drop in I wouldn’t recommend staying to chat. He quite rude among other much worse offenses,” Serqet said with a sigh. “Didn’t always used to be that way but what can you do with family?” 

“I wouldn’t know,” Arachne said causing Serqet to frown. “Don’t make that face at me. It doesn’t bother me.” Serqet made a huffing sound before propping herself up on her arms. 

“Arachne, can you do something for me?” 

“Of course,” Arachne said, leaning in. 

“Next time you are in the Arena, make sure you win.” 

“Don’t I always?” 

\- 

It didn’t take long for that time to come and Arachne had done her best to ensure victory. As the other team’s base crumpled, the crowd erupted in cheers. Bellona was cheering along with them, enjoying the power she got from their satisfaction in their opponent’s defeat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Serqet rushing on the field. Arachne turned around in surprise only for Serqet to leap into her arms and press their lips together into a crushing kiss. The crowd went silent before erupting into loud cheers. Serqet pulled away, working the crowd and waving which only seemed make them cheer louder. 

Arachne realized what Serqet had had done. She publically announced their relationship where anyone or any god could see. Surely Athena was throwing a fit somewhere which delighted Arachne to no end. Arachne laughed, pulling Serqet into another kiss. This time she parted her lips slightly and Serqet hummed as she tasted the poison on Arachne’s lips. She knew Serqet found the poison intoxicating even as it varied from her own. 

They pulled away from the kiss as Bellona came over to clap Arachne on the back. In that moment, however, Arachne only had eyes for Serqet. In turn, Serqet looked at her like she was her whole world which made Arachne’s heart soar. 

She never expected to be so loved. 

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact: The fabric Neith gives Arachne is the fabric in her new look.


End file.
